OBOS is one of Norway and Sweden’s largest housing developers. In 2020, the OBOS membership program was established in Sweden to also provide Swedish homebuyers with priority access to homes and member benefits.

“At OBOS, we believe in building strong partnerships with our members to help them achieve their dream of homeownership and enter the housing market”

says Anna Clara Dettner von Vegesack, Head of Loyalty at OBOS. 

Creating good relationships requires good communication. For OBOS, invoices and the payment process are important communication channels.

“We put a lot of effort into our communication. It is a “from me to you”-mentality, it is personal. Our members are our most important asset. We want to retain them as members, even after buying their first home”

says Anna Clara.

Simplifying the payment process 

A seamless payment process is key for any membership organization and the Norwegian process was not optimal when establishing OBOS in Sweden. The Norwegian version, which involved copying a 25-digit OCR number from a PDF, resulted in incorrect digits, creating extra administrative work and delaying payments.

With the help of Orbyt, OBOS added Kivra as a channel for invoices early 2024. The result was immediate – the payment rate increased from 72% to 92%. Most members also started paying at first contact, rather than after receiving a reminder. In addition, OBOS noticed a decrease in questions from their members on how to pay their invoices.

“After we changed the invoice and payment process to Kivra, many members paid their annual fee straight away. Before Kivra, most people paid when a reminder was sent”

says Anna Clara

To simplify even further, OBOS added Swish almost immediately and hopes that the Swedish members will welcome the additional payment options.

Mail matching 

Due to different rules between countries, Kivra’s new function of using email to match recipients rather than the Swedish social security number was the optimal solution for the distribution of the invoices. Matching on emails provides the same high level of security, with the same reach. 

“Kivra’s ability to match by email rather than social security number was crucial for us”

says Anna Clara

OBOS is now looking forward to enhancing their Kivra presence by adding direct contact paths from within the app which hopefully will make their members feel more at home.

“We are passionate about our members, it is personal. That is why it is important to have Kivra to help us simplify the customer journey”

says Anna Clara. 

Good partners

OBOS works hard every day to help their members get into the housing market. To make this happen, they need good partners. With Orbyt, OBOS gets a partner that adapts to the markets they operate in as Orbyt is connected to all relevant channels and partners in Europe.

By having a partnership with Orbyt, it is easy for OBOS to link up with Orbyt’s partners, such as Kivra.

“With Orbyt we have a partner that cares and delivers new, relevant solutions. When we wanted to connect to Kivra, Orbyt made sure that we quickly got up and running with Kivra”

says Jeanette Ousdal, IT Delivery Manager at OBOS.

About OBOS

OBOS is owned by its 600,000 members and is today one of the largest housing developers in Norway and Sweden. They have since 1929 built homes throughout Sweden – from apartments to villas, both in cities and in the countryside. Members get priority access to new homes and plots, greater peace of mind in their home purchase, and access to a variety of offers and experiences.

About Orbyt

Orbyt offers an end-to-end integrated SaaS platform, converting the entire invoice to pay process. Orbyt delivers a service that leverages our deep knowledge of the industries we serve, their needs and issues, and combines that with our product expertise within distribution, invoicing, and payments. 

About Kivra

Kivra is Sweden’s largest and safest platform for important documents such as letters, receipts and invoices. Today Kivra connects the majority of all citizens, companies and authorities in a safe way, enabling safe and efficient communication.